<p>"An achievement gap separating black from white students has long been documented — a social divide extremely vexing to policy makers and the target of one blast of school reform after another.</p>
<p>But a new report focusing on black males suggests that the picture is even bleaker than generally known.</p>
<p>Only 12 percent of black fourth-grade boys are proficient in reading, compared with 38 percent of white boys, and only 12 percent of black eighth-grade boys are proficient in math, compared with 44 percent of white boys.</p>
<p>Poverty alone does not seem to explain the differences: poor white boys do just as well as African-American boys who do not live in poverty, measured by whether they qualify for subsidized school lunches."</p>
<p>Those are some depressing statistics. It seems that the roots of the achievement gap go beyond economic factors. I think the problem may have to do with the culture and the environment that many black boys are surrounded with.
<p>It definitely has to do with the culture. Generations of black males have been constantly told that they are less intelligent: that kind of stuff trickles down. Not to mention that I regularly witness the mindset that being smart is uncool.</p>
<p>Lower expectations and an overall pessimism. this is why it is imperative that role models with the same or similar skin color exist. They (and their parents/ teachers) need to see that it is indeed possible for a balck person to succeed!</p>
<p>This is in no way disturbing to me. I’m black and I go to a racially diverse school (almost 41% black, 41% white, 8% other races). Yet even at my school, this plays out everyday. </p>
<p>Its the sad reality of living in America. I’m able to say that I don’t fall into that achievement gap but most black people in America, let alone my school, aren’t able to say that. </p>
<p>The statistics are depressing but look at the way in which blacks are portrayed by the media and the stereotypes and internalization of blacks, it explains everything.</p>
<p>It’s upsetting but I’ve realized this is the way its going to be unless more people make a conscious effort to change it.</p>
<p>Now, I’m not in a mood to jump down anyone’s throat right now, and I don’t mean to single you out, girlcanDISCO. However, it is disingenuous to attribute the problem with such facility to easy culprits like “culture” and “mindset.” </p>
<p>There’s a lot more going on here.</p>
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<p>Media portrayals explain everything? That statement is a bit sweeping…</p>
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<p>“Teach me how to Dougie” has more views than Obama’s inaugural speech. The examples are of African Americans exhibiting positive conduct out there, to be sure, so I am not sure how that excuse holds water - I guess that Cali Swag District is of more import than the president. Clearly, some individuals, whether they be black, white, green, red, or yellow are interested in things other than watching historic events.</p>
<p>Some other interesting facts:</p>
<p>I’m on a Boat: 3 times the number of views as Obama!
Crank That: 22.5 times the number of views! (Also, approximately it has 4 times the number of views as the amount of people age 18-24 who voted in 2008)
Stanky Legg: SAME NUMBER OF VIEWS AS INAUGURAL SPEECH!</p>
<p>If by “Teach me how to Dougie” you mean the group of singers who got together and became famous and successful for their albums, I don’t see how this particular example of success promotes academic achievement .</p>
<p>I’m not sure what else it could be. Correlation between race and intelligence? I’m sure you aren’t a proponent of that. And isn’t citing the Youtube views more proof that it’s the culture and its values?</p>
<p>I don’t want to jump on te bandwagon or single out ksarmand but you started to bring up a point that everyone should no. It would be downright moronic to pin the cause of this problem on black culture. The problem is that no presidential administration in the history of america has done enough to address the racial inequities that exist in our country today. There is a problem inherent within a society in which about 12% of the population is subject to unemployment, sub-par living conditions, sub-par schooling, health issues, and social issues disproportionately higher than the rest of the population. The trend for all politicians, newscasters, and citizens to blame people for bringing these problems upon themselves (ie. sitting down and blaming it on the culture) needs to stop. This solution did not remediate any of these problems ten years ago and nor will it ever. This is the reason why immigration is an issue today. What happens is news organizations pump out these statistics that illegal immigrants are ruining our country and stealing our jobs and millions of Americans watching sit there and say “that’s right”. Afterwards, they bring their reasons for being against illegal immigration. But what they have failed to realize is that they have been tricked into fooling that they have a stance on the immigration issue when all they really have is a list on why they dislike illegal immigration. News organizations are able to hoodwink people into thinking that they are talking about the issues when they are failing to provide any reasonable solution to reforming the immigration system in America so that we would not have these issues. When we’ve reached a point in which the most important man in a country is of African-American descent (yea, i know he is mixed but the general populus identifies Obama as black), it is apparent that a lack of role models is not the issue. America needs to have a serious discussion about race and until we do so, frightening trends like these will only progress.
[YouTube</a> - Pop Life and Race Matters](<a href=“Pop Life and Race Matters - YouTube”>Pop Life and Race Matters - YouTube)</p>
<p>Well, I don’t mean to be moronic. And you two are right, I shouldn’t have attributed it solely to the culture or the mindset, but the numbers are so dire that I have a hard time believing that discrimination is to blame. I’m well aware that it still exists today, but to such an awful extent?</p>
<p>I think a lot of the reasoning on this thread has to do with higher-achieving blacks being, in general, a little more sensitive to crying racism. It’s something I’ve noticed in real life, anyway. (As opposed to these fake lives we all lead on the internet. :))</p>
<p>And I can’t seem to quiet this part of my brain that keeps saying, “If you want to achieve, you’ll achieve.” Which brings me back to… the culture. >_< </p>
<p>@girlcan, as long as there exists “racial profiling” or “DWB (driving while black)”, personal achievement on the part of a black person can only go so far. So, the only way that this situation can improve is if there is a change of thinking on both sides.</p>
<p>I salute those of you on this thread who are working towards getting a great education. Whether you want to be or not, you are the role models for Junie’s 6 year-old brother and others. Don’t forget “where you came from” and never assume that because you made it, it will be easy for others to do the same.</p>
<p>True, but that is definitely not a problem existing only among black students! I can say that in my high school regular government class, which is by majority white, no one was interested in paying attention to the current affairs of the country or listening to Obama’s speech.</p>
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<p>You sort of lost me… are you implying that illegal immigrantion is the cause of the achievement gap between black and white students ?</p>
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<p>Most of the people who are eventually academically successful realize at some point in their lives that intellectual achievement is entirely within their ability. I think most have family who passed on to them the notion that it’s important to do well in school, that with hard work they can be expected to attend a good college, have professional degrees, etc.-----or more impressively, that they arrived at this conclusion on their own. Many students have the full capacity for academic excellence but at some time cease to strive for it, whether it’s because of the expectation they perceive from society or something else entirely. I do think it has to do with mindset, perhaps induced by culture or by society’s expectations, and it is not something that applies only to black students, though it certainly does to a great extent.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter how whites perform unless we’re performing at least at their average level. We shouldn’t be worried about them beyond this fact as they’re the leaders of this fine country. They are the lawyers, doctors, presidents and scientists. Our communal problems will fix themselves as long if only we can replace our lighter-skinned brethern with just as much quality. Our collective focus should be entirely on educating our children to compete with whites (as as group), and then in time, Asians as well. Black people in America need to be ashamed of our low scholastic level right now. </p>
<p>Our failure is intermingled with the inhumane nature of our subserviant history, but we can break out of the failure mode.</p>
<p>That, however, can’t happen on a national scale without our government. On the other hand, individuals such as yourself can make difference. Many of our problems–including the likes of high crime and incarceration–would fix themselves if it only we realized the importance of early childhood education.</p>
<p>As one sociologist mused in a recent New York Times article, “African Americans are stuck in a cyclical culture of poverty”.</p>
<p>Whites–NEWS FLASH OF THE CENTURY–are largely not.</p>
<p>I see what you mean, but at the same time just want to point out that there’s partly that “failure mode” you’ve mentioned previously right here in this very sentence. There are numerous black leaders in this country, a fair number of lawyers, doctors, president, and scientists as potential role models (though certainly not as many as reasonable)--------subconsciously passing on to children the idea that it is somehow only those of other races who are the lawyers and the scientists only contributes to this sense of inferiority that one is trying to eradicate in the first place…</p>
<p>(Just as a sidenote, sorry for posting on this forum, but I’m actually Asian :o. I was searching Lastest Post the other day and this thread came up.)</p>
<p>I know this response is terribly late, but I thought I’d post it anyway.</p>
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<p>Given the context, I suppose it would definitely have been inferred that I was referring only to black students, but truly, one cannot gauge the ethnicities (or the age cohort, as there are surely many adults who watched the video) of Youtube viewers by simply looking at the number views it has received, and I do not have the tools to undertake such an analysis. My post was more to express my disgust with the fact that “Teach me how to Dougie” has so many more views than something of infinitely more import.</p>
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